The exemplary embodiment relates to the printing arts. It finds particular application in conjunction with a printer capable of outsourcing the printing of a copy job to another printer having appropriate capabilities for printing the copy job.
Multifunction devices which are capable of producing both color and monochrome copies of an electronic document, such as a scanned document, are widely available and provide a user with a range of options for rendering the document on a print media, such as paper. However, the costs of printing both color and black and white documents on such a device can be relatively high because the printer is maintained in a state of readiness in which it is capable of providing color prints for much of the time. For example, toners are agitated periodically in the respective developer housings, a fuser may be maintained at a high temperature for producing glossy color prints, and the like. This adds a cost to operation of the printer, even when the device is used for monochrome printing. Wear and failure of such components incurring downtime and replacement costs also adds to the overall cost of running such a device.